jayparkinsonmd:

Regarding Amit Gupta, my friend who was recently diagnosed with leukemia, I heard some pretty startling news last night. A friend was trying to convince her friend to get swabbed and join the bone marrow donor registry. Her friend was adamantly opposed because she was afraid she could die, or be harmed by the procedure. Well, folks, this is just plain wrong. Donating bone marrow is very similar to donating blood. Just watch this video to see what it’s like:

Girl Prepares To Undergo Marrow Donation

The biggest commitment you’ll make is time. But just think about it, a few minutes of your life to extend someone’s life by decades? That’s priceless.

photo of Amit by Dan Busta

This is important for people to understand. There are 2 ways to donate bone marrow:

1. Bone marrow harvest, which involves directly extracting the marrow.
2. Peripheral blood stem cell extraction, which is basically when they extract your blood, just like in a blood donation, and separate out white blood cells, returning to you your red blood cells.

Yes, bone marrow harvest can be quite uncomfortable, even while you’re under general anesthesia.

HOWEVER. That is not how bone marrow is donated most of the time. I know you watched Seven Pounds and saw Will Smith’s character grimacing as he donated his bone marrow. He did bone marrow harvesting without anesthesia. (Spoilers ahead.) This is because he wants to repent and suffer.

Donating bone marrow can be as painless as donating blood. I highly encourage you to go out and do so, because it will not cause you an immense amount of pain as I once thought it would.